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The Authorized Biography of Roald Dahl

Storyteller

The Authorized Biography of Roald Dahl

THE FIRST AUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY OF ROALD DAHL, STORYTELLER IS A MASTERFUL, WITTY AND INCISIVE LOOK AT ONE OF THE GREATEST AUTHORS AND ECCENTRIC CHARACTERS OF THE MODERN AGE.

In his lifetime Roald Dahl pushed children’s literature into uncharted territory, and today his popularity around the globe continues to grow, with millions of his books sold every year. But the man behind the mesmerizing stories has remained largely an enigma. A single-minded adventurer and an eternal child who gave us the iconic Willy Wonka and Matilda Wormwood, Dahl was better known during his lifetime for his blunt opinions on taboo subjects—he was called an anti-Semite, a racist and a misogynist—than for his creative genius. His wild imagination, dark humor and linguistic elegance were less than fully appreciated by critics and readers alike until after his death.

Granted unprecedented access to the Dahl estate’s extraordinary archives—personal correspondence, journals and interviews with family members and famous friends—Donald Sturrock draws on a wealth of previously unpublished materials that informed Dahl’s writing and his life. It was a life filled with incident, drama and adventure: from his harrowing experiences as an RAF fighter pilot and his work in wartime intelligence, to his many romances and turbulent marriage to the actress Patricia Neal, to the mental anguish caused by the death of his young daughter Olivia. Tracing a brilliant yet tempestuous ascent toward notoriety, Sturrock sheds new light on Dahl’s need for controversy, his abrasive manner and his fascination for the gruesome and the macabre.

A remarkable biography of one of the world’s most exceptional writers, Storyteller is an intimate portrait of an intensely private man hindered by physical pain and haunted by family tragedy, and a timely reexamination of Dahl’s long and complex literary career.

Praise

"A major literary biography….Storyteller is so packed with intimate details, sharply intelligent commentary and surprising revelations…that it should be read immediately by anyone interested in Dahl, the ins and outs of modern publishing or the art of biography. I can't sing its praises enough."

"A major literary biography….Storyteller is so packed with intimate details, sharply intelligent commentary and surprising revelations…that it should be read immediately by anyone interested in Dahl, the ins and outs of modern publishing or the art of biography. I can't sing its praises enough."

– Michael Dirda, The Washington Post

"Donald Sturrock’s Storyteller … [gives] us a sprawling entertainment packed with anecdote and incident…. an engaging tale with satisfying episodes of glamour, intrigue, failure and renewal."

– William Georgiades, The Wall Street Journal

"Sturrock captures the spirit of the man, his need to charm and entertain as well as his 'almost adolescent desire to annoy'.''"

– Barbara Fisher, The Boston Globe

"At the end of Mr Sturrock’s satisfying and sparky tale, the reader has an overwhelming desire to rush off and read the first of Dahl’s books he can lay his hands on. "

"A no-stone-unturned examination of the man who gave us Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."

– TimeOut New York

"A balanced and juicy treatment . . . running through Dahl's years spying for the Brits and bedding a slew of Americans as well as the tensions, setbacks, and depressive jags that gave his work its texture."

– New York magazine, "The Twenty; Our most anticipated fiction and nonfiction of fall"

"Sturrock’s superb biography . . . is a hugely readable portrait that examines vividly and sympathetically the life and work of a difficult, complex author who was adored by millions of children, loathed by many adults, and was possibly a genius."

– Graham Lord, Daily Telegraph (UK)

"Diabolically readable! Donald Sturrock--a goodhearted Charlie with the keys to the factory well in hand--makes lucky ticketholders of us all, revealing from deep within this exotic, guarded, often painful life the conjuring triumphs and dark tragedies of the 20th century's most wonderfully wicked storyteller."

– David Michaelis, author of Schulz and Peanuts

"The person I met when I met Roald Dahl comes through vividly on the pages of Storyteller. Dahl told me that he was generally disappointed in what people wrote about him, but I believe he would have appreciated Donald Sturrock’s beautifully written book."

– Charlotte Chandler, author of I Know Where I'm Going

"A 600-page book with the word authorized on the cover looks to me like a rather daunting prospect, but I only had to read a few pages of Donald Sturrock’s narrative--fluent, alert, detached but enthusiastic--to realize that in fact the whole thing is irresistible. I thought I knew quite a lot about Roald Dahl, but now I know much much more. Donald Sturrock’s book lucidly describes a complicated life and relates it to the richness of Dahl’s storytelling."

– Quentin Blake, illustrator

"Storyteller is a real liability if you have anything resembling a busy schedule. It hooks you from its opening sentence; that opening sentence then segues into a wonderful opening paragraph; the paragraph turns into a great first chapter and before you know it you're up to your armpits in stories about spies and foxes and movie stars and you don't want to tear yourself away. As engrossing as only the best biographies can be."

– Tom Shone, author of In the Rooms and Blockbuster: How Hollywood Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Summer

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